Koa, the best known of Hawaiian
woods, grows year round and can reach heights of 100 feet. The specific
gravity is around .55, making it similar to American Black walnut in density.
It has been used for centuries by Hawaiians to make wa'a (dugout canoes).
It is a great wood for many purposes including musical instruments, bowls
and all kinds of projects where a medium weight wood can be used.
Our figured Koa has the beautiful chatoyance in the curl seen in the photo
above, and the distance between curls vary (the one above has very tight,
close curl). All of our figured wood comes from the stumps
of dead or dying trees, havested legally on private land. As best
we can tell, it is not classified as endangered. The biggest threat
to Koa in Hawaii appears to be overgrazing of cattle. Click
here for a larger detail of the Koa photo.Grading explanation for figured wood:
Gallery grade minus (gg-) is a nicely figured piece that has some figure scattered around, not tight or all over figure
Gallery grade (gg) is a highly figured piece of wood. It has very high and intense figure on at least two parallel sides, or very good figure on 3 or 4 sides.
Gallery grade PLUS (gg+) is a piece with rare intense figure that appears on all 4 surfaces of a square. Usually uncommon to rare.Macadamia
wood now on this page below the Koa.

sample photo--pieces have good curl figure. Some pieces have black lines,others may vary in color from red/tanto black and tan. Random appearances:

Curly
Koa pen blank, GG minus

3/4 x 3/4 x 5 to 5.75 inches longPrice: $6.50Qty:

Curly
Koa pen blank, GG

3/4 x 3/4 x 5 to 5.75 inches longPrice: $10.50Qty:

Curly
Koa pen blank, GG PLUS

3/4 x 3/4 x 5 to 5.75 inches longPrice: $14.50Qty:

Click the photo for another view of these. Actual pieces shown, order by letter below. If your selection is not listed below or the shopping cart gives you a notice when you have a Qty of 1, it is already sold.READ NOTES: A, B, C are burl/curl-- They have some small divets as they are burls. A, B, C, D, G, H and i are higher density than normal for koa--almost double the density of lighter weight koa pieces! Note that there is better figure in E through i than the photos show.
To understand grades: Read top of this page.

Hawaiian sandalwood is very rare, and few have the opportunity to own this wood. The quality of our pieces sold here is equal to the best East Indian Sandalwood as far as aroma. Grain is quite fine and the wood takes fine detail very well. Even in Hawaii, few individuals have been able to use this wood for woodworking as it is almost never sold. Ours was legally obtained from a private landowner who needed to remove a dead tree in the past and kept these pieces to sell. This is the rarest wood we sell. We have had inquiries from a museum in Hawaii because they cannot obtain it anywhere in the islands. It is available in other small sizes for .80 per gram and little log sections (with defects) for .30 to.60 per gram. Once we sell our current stock, we doubt we'll ever be able to get any again and consider it a once in a lifetime find. Please be aware that even the best sandalwood is not like a bottle of perfume. It won't fill a room like an air freshener or even be noticed by people who have trouble smelling subtle smells. (Some individuals cannot even smell a quart of paint thinner spilled in the rug of a closed up 85 degree room---as I have witnessed with surprise!) Most people can smell it very well when bare wood is held up to their nose at room temperature. Cold temps or very high humidity might decrease the smell. It can fill a room if properly used as an incense, or when it is turned on a lathe. These are top grade for aroma in sandalwood--as good or better then any sandalwood from India.

NOTE: you CAN export these from the USA!

The above photo shows the range of colors in the pen blanks listed below. They are all pretty similar and there is little/no sapwood in them. Outstanding aroma in these, you will really fill the shop when you work on them! Note: Just a few available in most sizes. If we run out of your size, let us know and we'll cut more for you.

Hawaii Sandalwood7/8 x 7/8 x 5 to 5.5 inchesPrice: $42.00Qty:

Hawaii Sandalwood3/4 x 3/4 x 5 to 5.25 inchesPrice: $34.00Qty:

Hawaii Sandalwood Half pen blank3/4 x 3/4 x 3 inchesPrice: $16.00Qty:

Hawaii Sandalwood Half pen blank5/8 x 5/8 x 3 inchesPrice: $13.00Qty:

Click the photo for the second side. Top quality defect free pieces*, cut from the highest quality logs, aroma is outstanding with a high oil content. Extremely rare wood basically unknown on the market. They smell great and you'll love these if you like sandalwood. Notes: *Piece 1 is a log section and does have typical defects like checks/cracks and is sold at less than half the price of the other pieces which are defect free.

Macadamia wood has an appearance
much like lacewood/leopardwood, but has a pinkish cast and slightly different
markings. The color can look like red stain with a finish.
Just like lacewood, the appearance of the markings changes based on the
angle the wood has been cut. The wood often develops multiple defects
when drying, which makes it very important to buy truly dry wood.
These pieces have been kiln-dried completely.

The freshly cut wood looks like
the lighter pieces. If exposed to light without a finish, thepieces gradually look like the
darker ones above. The darker color is only skin deep, andas soon as the piece is sanded,
the lighter color is apparent. Sample photo of typical pieces.

photo coutesy of Frank McClureKoa: Getting some of the figured wood, usually lower on the stump.

Order online, or call us
Monday through Friday 970-241-2827 (minimum phone order is $50 plus shipping)International callers and all
Questions:Email us

Note that everything on this page (photos too!)
are copyrighted and may not be usedwithout written permission. Credited
photos to other than James Griffinor Griffin Exotic Wood llc must still be credited
if you use them. Credited photoson this page can be used without permission
by getting them from the Wikipedia article on Koa..Copyright 2006, 2017 by James Griffin. If
you are a customerand desire to use some of our photos on your
website, email us with your request.